At Mavenlink, we’re replacing legacy tools for project management like spreadsheets and applications by providing a single, consolidated environment for managing all aspects of a project. It’s not easy, but our collaborative culture makes tackling challenges easier because we do it together.

One such challenge was creating — and then improving — our Chrome extension feature. It took a lot of minds to figure out how we could make the best possible Chrome extension out there today.

The Picker Problem — and Solution

When our engineers began integrating Google Drive into our Chrome extension, they ran into a few hurdles. First, the Google Picker’s interface was too large for the Chrome extension interface. Inserting the Picker into the sidebar could potentially jeopardize the user experience. To solve this issue, our engineers had to drastically rework our extension interface to handle the size of the Google Picker.

Pair Programming for Your Safety

The next road bump had to do with website security policies: Google Chrome extensions have a strict content security policy because they are being used while surfing other websites. We had to come up with a way for our customers to access the Google Picker without creating a security hole. As a result of our pair programming practice, our engineers were able to work together to find a solution that allowed access without compromising customer security or violating Internet security standards and practices.

Reasons to Love our Chrome Extension

We know that our customers love how Mavenlink and Google work together, and the ability to attach Google Drive files to posts is a big part of what makes our Google integration so great. In addition to supporting Google Drive file integration, our Chrome extension also allows you to:

Assign multiple team members to a task

Specify a start date when adding a new task

Get a team member’s attention using @mention and/or send them a virtual smile using emojis

Easily turn the Mavenlink Chrome extension into the full Mavenlink experience via the gear icon to access more features